National Motorists Association Blog

TheNewspaper.com Roundup: August 17, 2011

Each Wednesday, we’ll publish quick summaries of the articles from the last week on TheNewspaper.com. We’re doing this because these articles are often strongly connected to the issues that National Motorists Association members are interested in.

Wednesday, August 17, 2011Law Review Blasts Toll Road, Parking Meter Privatization
A University of Chicago Law School professor is challenging the prevailing wisdom regarding the sorts of transportation privatization deals that have grown increasingly popular. The Minnesota Law Review last month published a critique by Julie A. Roin that argued such deals have more in common with the medieval practice of tax farming than true privatization.

Tuesday, August 16, 2011Texas Appeals Court Upholds License Scanners for Traffic Stops
Police in Texas have the right to stop motorists if a license plate recognition camera system suspects the vehicle’s owner lacks automobile insurance. In an unpublished ruling last Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the Texas Court of Appeals refused the attempt by Kenneth Ray Short to have a March 2010 traffic stop declared illegal.

Monday, August 15, 2011Houston, Texas Mayor Flip Flops on Red Light Cameras
The mayor of Houston, Texas relented and allowed city council to vote on deactivating red light cameras. ATS, the ticket camera corporation who contracted with the city, is predictably not very happy about this.

Thursday, August 11, 2011Tennessee Attorney General Backs Right Turn Camera Ticket Ban
The Tennessee General Assembly is free to impose limitations on the use of automated ticketing machines, according to an opinion issued Monday by Attorney General Robert E. Cooper Jr. Cities and photo enforcement companies had complained that the legislature had “impaired contracts” when it enacted a law in July prohibiting the issuance of photo tickets to drivers making slow right turns on red. Right-turn citations have become the primary moneymaker for red light camera systems nationwide.

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